9 


6/  0'M':l?,;S£i 


Communication  of  the  May  or  ^  on  subjects 
of  employing  Convicts.  In  Common 
Council,  February  18,  1822. 

The  Mayor  begs  leave  to  inform  the  board,  that, 
pursuant  to  the  intimation  given  at  the  last  meeting, 
he,  together  with  several  members  of  the  Common- 
Council,  and  the  Commissioners  of  the  Alms  House, 
proceeded  to  the  establishment  at  Belvieu,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  consulting  on  the  practicability  of  employing 
the  convicts,  and  others,  confined  in  that  establish- 
ment, with  advantage  to  the  public,  and  the  improve- 
ment of  those  employed.  The  number  of  Paupers  in 
the  Alms  House,  on  the  13th  inst.  (the  day  on  which 
the  house  was  visited)  was  1744,  including  a  great 
number  of  children,  and  oldandinfirm  adults  (jf  both  sex- 
es. The  manner  in  which  these  persorig^'re  employ- 
ed generally,  was  stated  to  the  Board  by  the  Superin- 
tendant,  in  his  last  annual  report,  and  it  is  therefore 
deemed  necessary,  only  to  state  at  this  time,  that  the 
machinery  now  in  operation  for  spinning,  and  weaving 
of  cloth,  is  nearly  sufficient  for  the  use  of  the  whole 
estabhshment,  and  gives  steady  employmenUo  20  wo- 
men, 18  men,  and  12  boys  ;  and  tliat  thereH»  engaged 
at  the  business  of  Shoe  Making,  1 1  men,  and  12  boys, 
who  are  constantly  employed  at  that  calling ;  and  that 
the  Pin  Factory,  gives  employment  to  27  children  of 
both  sexes.   In  addition  to  these,  there  are  occasion- 


2 


ally  emplo)ed,  ]\Iasons,  Carpenters,  Blacksmiths, 
Wheelwrights,  and  Bakers,  and  tiie  ordinary  calls  of 
the  house,  for  menial  services,  require#the  regular  at- 
tention of  a  large  number  of  the  men  and  women  wlio 
are  in  health,  and  are  unengaged  at  the  factories. 
There  is  however,  much  room  for  improvement,  in 
this  department  of  the  establishment  at  Belvieu,  and 
very  advantageous  employment  might  be  furnished,  by 
additional  machinery,  for  several  more  liands ;  parti- 
cularly in  looms  for  weaving,  by  which,  not  only  the 
cloth  necessary  for  the  use  of  the  Alms  House  may  be 
manufactured  ;  but  also,  a  sufficient  quantity  for  the 
use  of  the  Pcnitentiaiy  and  Bridevvell.  This  subject 
has  engaged  the  attention  of  tlie  gentlemen  who  arc 
more  particularly  charged  with  the  care  of  this  institu- 
tion, and  the  satisfactory  manner  in  which  they  have 
performed  the  duties  of  their  offices,  is  a  pledge  that 
evcrj^  improvement  in  the  discipline  of  the  house, 
which  is  calculated  to  lessen  the  expense,  or  reduce 
the  number  of  Paupers,  will  be  made  and  progressed 
in,  as  fasl^ig^j^^circumstance  of  the  case  will  permit. 

There  uMH»in  the  Penitentiary  at  the  aforesaid  pe- 
riod, 232  males,  and  132  females,  making  a  total  of 
364  persons.  Of  this  number,  except  a  few  of  the 
women  who  are  kept  at  sewing  and  spinning,  and 
about  30  of  the  men  at  out  door  work,  there  are  but 
31  regularly  employed  ;  23  at  the  manufactory  of  PinS, 
and  10^^ hoe  Making.  It  is  to  the  state  of  this  es- 
tablishm«it  therefore,  that  the  attention  of  the  Board 
is  particularly  required.  The  experience  of  many 
years,  has  only  tended  to  prove,  that  the  Penitentiary 
System,  as  now  conducted,  will  not  produce  the  effects 
it  was  intended  to  produce.    The  object  and  design  of 


the  system  was,  the  punishment  of  the  criminal,  and 
ihc  deterring  ol  others  from  the  commission  of  similar 
crimes,  neither  of  which,  it  is  believed,  has  been  ef- 
fected ;  for  if  any  judgment  can  be  formed  from  the 
fact,  that  at  every  court  held  in  this  city,  for  the  tria 
of  criminal  offences,  more  or  less  of  the  prisoners  ar 
raigned,  are  old  offenders,  who,  in  some  instances 
have  previously  been  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  the 
State  Prison  or  Penitentiarj",  once,  twice,  and  not  un- 
frequently  three  times,  it  is,  that  as  yet,  the  experi- 
ment has  in  a  great  measure  failed ;  and  it  may  be 
added  as  an  additional  proof,  that  it  is  an  occurrence 
by  no  means  novel,  for  persons  who  have  been  com- 
mitted to  the  Penitentiary  or  Bridewell,  and  discharged 
after  the  time  of  their  commitment  had  expired,  to  ap- 
ply to  the  Police  Magistrates,  requesting  as  a  favour^ 
that  they  may  again  be  committed,  although  no  charge 
whatever  had  been  preferred  against  them.  It  is 
pretty  evident  therefore,  that  there  are  no  terrors  in  the 
Penitentiary  for  those  who  have  once  been  its  inmates, 
but  rather,  that  the  fare  and  discipline  of  the  prison 
vvitlim  its  walls,  is  preferred,  to  a  life  of  industry  and 
frugality  out  of  it.  Several  reasons  might  be  urged 
wh}'  the  system  has  failed  tcapj^^ce  the  effect  thai 
was  anticipated  ;  the  princi|UA#AiMi  are,  the  want  of 
cells  for  solitary  confinement ;  the  want  of  accomo- 
dations, in  order  to  a  proper  classification  of  the  pri- 
soners :  and  the  want  of  suitable  emplo\-ment  for  the 
vagrant  and  convict.  The  construction  of  the  Prison 
at  Belvieu  is  suchj  that  the  keeper  is  compelled,  of  ne- 
cessity, to  place  old  and  hardened  offenders  in  the 
same  apartment  with  those  who  are  there  for  a  first 
offence,  or  perhaps,  for  the  crime  of  vagrancy  only : 


and  the  sole  employment  afforded  the  convict,  except 
the  few  engaged  in  the  manufactory  of  pins,  is  the 
work  on  the  roads,  avenues,  and  public  property,  a 
labour  by  no  means  severe,  and  one  that  offers  many 
opportunities  for  conversation  and  intercourse  between 
themselves  and  friends,  and  not  unfrequently,  both  the 
inducement  and  means  of  escfipe  from  their  keepers  ; 
and  after  the  labour  of  the  day  has  terminated,  which 
seldom  exceeds  six  or  eight  hours  out  of  the  twenty- 
four,  they  are  returned  to  the  Prison  ;  when  instead  of 
])eing  placed  in  separate  cells,  an  improvement  impe- 
riously called  for,  they  are  shut  up  in  rooms,  thirty  or 
forty  of  them  together,  and  are  thus  deprived  of  one  of 
the  objects  of  their  confinement,  an  opportunity  for  re- 
flection. The  natural  consequence  is,  that  not  being 
sufficiently  wearied  by  their  labour,  to  require  imme- 
diate rest  or  sleep,  their  time  is  consumed  in  commu- 
nicating to  each  other,  the  exploits  of  villany  and  har- 
dihood in  which  they  have  been  engaged,  and  thus 
contaminating  those  of  their  fellow  prisoners,  who  are 
less  debased  than  themselves.  It  is  with  a  view  to 
the  improvement  of  this  description  of  persons,  confined 
in  the  Penitentiary,  that  this  communication  is  sub- 
mitted to  the  boarc^:  and  as  it  is  confidently  believed, 
that  regular  and  s^^OTWployment,  moderate  but  in- 
cessent,  which  shall  preclude  all  conversation  and  re- 
creation, will  tend  to  effect  a  change  in  the  habits  and 
dispositions  of  these  unfortunate  persons,  it  has  been 
deemed  expedient,  to  recommend  to  the  board,  two 
species  of  employment,  w  hich  it  is  expected  will  effect 
the  object  in  view. 

The  first,  is,  the  extention  of  the  Pin  Manufactory. 
This  business  appears  to  be  an  employment,  peculiarly 


suited  fur  prison  discipline  ;  for  although  the  labour  is 
)noderate,  it  nevertheless  requires  the  whole  attention 
of  the  prisoner  to  perform  it,  and  he  has  therefore,  nei- 
Ihcr  time  or  opportunity  for  conversation  or  idle  amuse- 
ment, vi'liich  only  tends  to  make  confinement  agreea- 
ble, while  it  produces  no  manner  of  reformation  or 
benefit  to  the  parties  concerned.  To  afford  accommo- 
dation for  the  23  convicts  now  employed  at  this  busi- 
ness in  the  Penitentiary,  it  became  necessary  to  remove 
a  number  of  females  to  the  garret  story  of  the  building ; 
but  this  arrangement  can  only  continue  during  the  cold 
weatlier,  as  the  place  to  which  the  females  are  remov- 
ed, being  immediately  under  the  roof  of  the  building, 
will  be  too  hot  for  endurance  in  the  warm  season  of  the 
year,  and  the  accommodation  of  the  prison  requires  ad- 
ditional apartments,  instead  of  their  diminution.  It 
is  proposed,  therefore,  that  the  lower  part  of  the  Work 
House,  attached  to  the  Alms  House  establishment, 
and  now  occupied  as  a  Carpenters  and  Wheelwrights 
shop,  should  be  appropriated  to  the  Pin  Factory,  for 
the  emplo\Tnent  of  the  convicts;  and  that  a  build- 
ing be  erected  25  feet  by  100,  to  be  occupied  by  the 
Carpenters,  Wheelwrights  and  Blacksmiths.  The  ex- 
pense of  this  building  is  estimated  to  cost  the  public 
jJ750,  which  sum,  will  be  expended,  in  furnishing  the 
necessary  materials  for  the  building,  except  the  stone, 
which,  together  with  the  labour,  it  is  proposed  to  have 
furnished  by  the  paupers,  now  in  the  estabhshment.  By 
tliis  arrangement,  about  20  or  30  of  the  convicts  can 
be  employed,  in  addition  to  those  already  engaged  at 
the  same  business,  and  the  money  expended  for  the 
object,  will  be  repaid  in  a  short  period,  from  the  pro- 
ceeds of  their  labour. 


6 


The  second  species  of  employment  to  which  the  at- 
tention of  the  board  is  requested,  is  one  wliich  has  been 
successfully  applied  in  several  of  the  Prisons  in  En- 
gland, butit  is  believed,  that  as  yet,  it  is  a  novelty  in  this 
country.  The  machine  made  use  of,  and  which  it  is 
stated  has  wrought  wonders  in  the  reformation  of  pri- 
soners, is  termed,  a  Discipline  Mill,  and  is  composed 
of  one,  or  two  wheels,  as  the  case  may  require,  of  about 
5  feet  diameter,  and  from  20  to  24  feet  in  length ; — 
these  are  termed  thread  or  stepping  wheels,  and  are  so 
constructed  that  from  15  to  20  men  may  work  on  them 
at  the  same  time.  The  steps  are  formed  on  the  out- 
side of  the  wheels,  at  proper  distances,  and  run  horri- 
zontal  wit!i  the  shafts  :  there  is  a  fixed  rail  extending 
the  whole  length  of  tlie  wheel,  to  w  hich  the  persons  at 
work  hold  with  their  hands,  wliile  tlieir  feet  rest  on 
the  steps,  and  by  the  weight  of  their  body  the  wheel  is 
turned,  which  sets  in  motion,  by  means  of  spur  or  cog- 
wheels, the  wliole  of  the  machinery  attached  to  the 
stnicture.  The  object  is,  to  make  use  of  the  prisoners 
as  the  moving  powe>-,  and  the  operation  is  precisely  the 
bame,  as  that  produced  by  the  wind,  water,  steam  or 
horses,  and  may  be  applied  to  any  of  the  purposes  to 
which  mills,  worked  by  these  agents  are  now  applied. 
The  uses  to  which  they  have  been  applied  in  England 
liovvever,  is  the  grinding  and  dressing  flour,  breaking 
malt,  and  raising  Avater  for  the  use  of  the  Prisons. 
T'lic  buildings  in  which  they  are  erected,  are  generally 
in  two  apartments,  separated  from  each  other,  either 
by  the  wall  of  the  prison,  or  some  substantial  bulwark, 
and  on  the  prison  side  of  the  building  are  the  wheels  on 
which  the  prisoners  work,  so  that  the  men  are  kept 
within  the  precinct  of  the  prison  or  yard,  while  the  op- 


7 


erations  of  the  mill  are  on  the  outside  of  the  prison  pre- 
mises, to  which  any  one  permitted  may  have  access. 
The  cost  of  the  necessary  buildings  and  machinerj'  for 
two  run  of  stones,  is  estimated  at  §3000,  but  if  it  shall 
be  deemed  expedient  to  employ  but  one  run  of  stones, 
the  cost  will  not  exceed  ^2500.  The  object  would  be, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  grind  the  flom-  and  meal  for  the 
use  of  the  Alms  House,  Bridewell  and  Penitcntiaiy, 
by  -which  a  saving  would  be  made  to  the  public  of 
gSOOO  per  annum,  that  being  the  average  sum,  annual- 
ly paid  for  grinding ;  so,  that  if  nothing  more  was  gain- 
ed, than  the  saving  of  this  sum  to  the  city,  the  object  is 
well  worth}"  the  experiment.  That  it  can  be  carried 
into  eflect,  and  prove  beneficial  in  manj-  points  of  view 
there  cannot  be  a  doubt,  for  the  experiment  has  been 
satisfactorily  tested,  as  will  be  fully  shewn,  by  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  a  report  made  in  1821,  by  the 
Committee  of  the  Society  for  the  Improvement  of  Pri- 
son Discipline  in  England.  The  Committee  observe, 
that  in  a  great  niunber  of  instances,  offenders,  even  the 
most  hardened,  who  have  for  a  reasonable  time  been 
subjected  to  a  well  regulated  system  of  discipline,  do 
abstain  from  the  further  violation  of  law,  and  have,  in 
a  variety  of  cases  been  known  to  abandon  their  crimi- 
nal pursuits.  Numbers  who  on  entering  confinemoit 
w  ere  debased  by  nearly  eveiy  vice  that  can  degrade 
human  nature,  whose  repeated  offences  had  formerl  y 
occasioned  their  frequent  committal  to  the  same  Prison, 
have  not,  since  the  estabhshment  of  a  strict  and  im- 
proved discipline,  been  found  again  within  its  walls. 

There  was  but  one  re-commitment  at  the  prison  iir 
the  county  of  Hartford  during  the  year  after  the  step- 
ping-mill  was  put  in  operation,  while  previous  to  thi:^. 


8 


re-committncnts  of  vagrants  and  others  were  a  common 
thing. 

The  mill  at  Bury  Prison  has  continued  to  produce 
the  best  effects;  the  great  reduction  in  the  commitments 
is  attributed  to  the  introduction  of  hard  labour.  The 
prisoners  dread  the  work.  Shortly  after  the  erection 
of  the  mill,  a  man  was  committed  in  default  of  the 
payment  of  a  penalty ;  he  had  not  been  in  confine- 
ment many  days  before  he  told  the  keeper,  that  if  he 
was  to  be  put  to  the  mill,  he  might  as  well  pay  the 
money,  as  he  could  but  work  hard  out  of  prison ;  he 
accordingly  paid  the  money,  by  the  help  of  friends, 
and  was  discharged. 

A  person  convicted  of  felony  was  sentenced  to  three 
months  imprisonment  in  the  House  of  Correction ; 
upon  his  discharge  he  returned  to  his  evil  associates, 
and  was  again  convicted  of  felony  and  sentenced  to 
six  months  confinement.  During  this  second  confine- 
ment, he  was  compelled  to  labour  on  one  of  the  step- 
ping-mills  ;  the  effect  was  striking,  for,  at  his  discharge, 
he  was  anxious  to  submit  to  any  hardships  rather  than 
return  to  the  prison  again. 

At  one  of  the  prisons,  it  is  stated,  that  two  of  these 
mills  had  been  erected,  one  of  which  employed  12, 
and  the  other  1 6  men,  each  for  three  hours  in  the  day, 
and  the  whole  of  the  bread  consumed  in  the  prison, 
and  the  County  Gaol,  was  ground  and  baked  by  the 
prisoners.  The  first  good  effect  produced  by  the  in- 
troduction of  the  mills  in  this  prison,  was  a  great  de« 
crease  of  vagrants,  and  the  number  continued  small. 
The  saving  to  the  county  in  the  baking  establishment 
alone  for  about  19  months  is  stated  at  $1956. 


9 


At  another  of  the  prisons  it  is  stated,  that  although 
iVooi  the  construction  of  the  building,  several  of  the 
prisoners  are  necessarily  placed  in  one  room  to  sleep, 
they  are  nevertheless  sufficiently  fatigued,  after  work- 
ing at  the  stepping-mill,  to  prefer  sleep  to  conversation. 
That  they  go  to  their  daily  labour  with  great  reluc- 
tance, for  they  have  a  horror  of  the  stepping-mill,  and 
would  sooner  undergo,  as  they  all  declare,  any  fatigue, 
or  suffer  any  privation,  than  return  to  the  prison  when 
once  released,  and  as  a  proof  of  this  it  is  stated,  that 
but  one  instance  of  a  recommitment  had  taken  place 
during  the  whole  year,  while  previous  to  the  erection 
of  the  mill,  re-commitments  were  very  common. 

At  another  it  is  stated,  that  a  mill  has  been  in  ope- 
ration for  two  yeai  s,  which  employs  36  men,  1 8  at  one 
time,-  and  that  they  change  three  times  each  day.  The 
produce  of  this  mill  is  sold  to  a  person  who  contracts 
for  it  by  the  year. 

At  another,  that  the  County  has  employed  no  capi- 
tal to  furnish  grist,  constant  work  having  been  furnished 
by  persons  in  the  neigbourhood.  That  there  was  then 
but  70  persons  confined  in  that  prison,  while  the  ave- 
rage number  had  been  1 30,  and  sometimes  more  ;  and 
that  the  reduction  was  clearly  to  be  attributed  to  the 
mill. 

At  another  it  is  stated,  that  the  best  effects  begin  to 
be  experienced  from  the  operation  of  the  stepping-mill, 
at  which  both  the  male  and  female  prisoners  work  in 
separate  classes.  That  the  dread  which  is  now  felt 
for  imprisonment,  contrasted  with  the  perfect  indiffer- 
ence witli  wliich  confinement  had  hitherto  been  regard- 
ed, is  very  perceptible,  as  the  number  of  convicts, 
which  for  several  years  past,  had  been  more  than 
B 


10 


double  the  number  requisite  (o  keep  the  mill  in  opera- 
lion,  and  was  now  so  reduced,  that  the  number  in  fu- 
ture would  not  be  sufficient  to  enable  the  mill  to  per- 
IbiTO  the  quantity  of  work  for  which  it  was  constructed. 

It  is  further  stated,  that  previous  to  the  introduction 
of  the  stepping-mill,  the  re-commitments  to  the  prisons 
in  England  averaged  about  32  out  of  every  hundred, 
but  that  since  that  period,  they  were  reduced  to  about 
4  out  of  every  hundred. 

If  the  foregoing  extracts  are  to  be  relied  on,  and 
lliere  cannot  be  a  doubt  of  their  authenticity,  as  the 
persons  composing  the  Committee  whose  names  are 
attached  to  the  report,  appear  to  be  of  the  first  respec- 
tability and  standing  in  the  country,  then  the  in)port- 
ance  of  the  Discipline  Mill  to  tiie  United  States  must 
be  incalculable,  because  it  will  at  least  have  the  effect 
of  continuing  in  operation  our  Penitentiai7  system, 
which,  under  the  present  arrangement,  is  fast  falling 
into  disrepute,  even  in  the  estimation  of  those  upon 
whom  the  claims  of  humanity  were  never  made  in  vain; 
and  this  is  by  no  means  to  be  wondered  at,  for  what 
man  is  there,  who  can  calmly  contemplate  the  fact, 
that  out  of  one  hundred  instances  of  conviction  and 
confinement,  scarce  a  single  reformation  is  effected, 
and  still  say,  that  he  is  satisfied  with  the  result. 

The  beneficial  effects  which  have  been  stated  as  re- 
.-,ulting  from  the  discipline  introduced  in  the  EngUsh 
prisons,  are  in  a  great  measure  due  to  the  exertions  of 
the  gentlemen  composing  the  Committee  of  the  Soci- 
ety alluded  to,  and  it  is  worthy  the  consideration  of  our 
own  citizens,  whether  much  improvement  in  this  par- 
ticular might  not  be  effected,  if  a  similar  society  was 
established  here. 


N  V  i       '    -    -  11 

M'uci\^06d'  mrghl  .be  done  by  supplying  the  means 
of  instruction  to  the  unfortunate  inmates  of  our  State 
and  City  Prisons ;  and  if  additional  assistance  could 
be  afforded  for  religious  instruction,  the  effects  would 
no  doubt  be  very  salutary.  It  is,  however,  the  peculiar 
duty  of  the  Common  Council  of  this  City,  under 
whose  control  and  management,  the  law  has  placed 
the  Alms  House  and  Prisons,  to  adopt  every  proper 
measure  for  the  improvement  of  those  confined  within 
their  walls,  for  it  is  a  truth  that  cannot  be  controverted, 
that  in  neglecting  the  improvement  of  the  ignorant 
convict,  and  the  reformation  of  the  depraved  one, 
more  or  less  suffering  is  brought  upon  the  community 
at  large  ;  for  by  the  discharge  of  a  prisoner  from  con- 
finement, on  whom  the  sentence  of  the  law  has 
wrought  no  reformation,  a  renewal  of  the  injury  sus- 
tained from  his  depredations  is  experienced,  and  the 
influence  of  his  example,  is  fraught  with  the  most  inju- 
rious consequences  on  all  with  whom  he  associates, 
and  consequently,  there  is  an  increase  in  the  number 
of  offenders,  instead  of  a  diminution,  tlie  end  and  ob- 
ject of  his  punishment. 

The  estimated  expense  of  the  whole  improvement 
hereby  recommended,  is  stated  to  amount  to  $3,750. — 
This  is  a  suni  which  it  would  be  imprudent  to  hazard 

.on  mere  experiment,  but  when  we  are  in  possession 
of  the  facts  already  stated  ;  when  we  have  seen  the 

.-operation  of  the  factory  now  in  successful  practice  at 
Belvieu,  and  are  satisfied  with  its  results ;  and  are 
furnished  with  indubitable  evidence  of  the  operations 
and  effects  of  the  Stepping  Mill,  it  would  almost 
amount  to  infidelity  to  doubt  of  its  success  :  besides, 
the  sg^ving  that  will  be  effected  in  the  amount  annually 


paid  for  grinding  the  grain  consumed  at  the  establish- 
ment, and  the  expenditure  for  extra  keepers,  together 
with  the  waste  and  wear  of  tools  and  clothes  by  the 
convicts  employed  on  the  avenues  and  roads,  taken  in 
the  agregate,  will  amount  to  a  sum,  which  will  not 
only  pay  the  interest  on  the  money  expended,  but  in  a 
short  time  will  sink  the  principal  also.  It  is  therefore 
respectfully  recommended,  that  the  sum  of  $3,750,  be 
appropriated  for  the  aforesaid  puiposes,  to  be  expended 
under  the  direction  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Alms 
House. 


r' 


